We are at a crucial stage in the Plant Medicine and psychedelic evolution.  The decriminalization movement is in full swing, but in most cases, the laws we are voting in are not as safe as we assume. The Western world is doing what it always does: It’s assuming entitlement and control over something it previously vilified, with the intention to profit first and foremost. The indigenous and shamanic perspectives are neither inquired about nor supported, so there is one clear trend that is emerging.

The only people that are being given the incredible gift of legal safety to administer Plant Medicines and psychedelics are not the people who have trained for decades with the tribes that have done this work respectfully for centuries—no, the people the system recognizes as “safe” are doctors and therapists that have already been indoctrinated into their structures and protocols.

Many of these people have never even taken the sacraments they are now subjecting others to. Many have zero relationship with the spirit of the plants and medicines. Most have absolutely no clue how to create spiritual safety, and the radical importance of such rituals.

A disaster is brewing; the kind our Western world can’t even conceive of because it does not yet fully understand the complexity of working with spirit, and the true process of healing.

Here’s how to protect ourselves, and to stand for the reverence of the traditions and plants that are being trampled. If we don’t stand up and demand that things be executed differently, we will repeat past sins, we will hurt people, and the plants will once again get blamed. But it’s not too late, thank goodness.

Why Most Clinical Psychedelic Therapies are Dangerous

There’s a reason why the traditional way to work with powerful entheogens is in community, and not in a sterile room with a practitioner that does not partake in the medicines themselves; safety and intimacy come from many different factors. The shamanic tribes understand this. Now, we need to as well.

First and foremost, we are not meant to heal in isolation, we heal as a connected human family. Yes, there are times when we need to incubate in a solitary setting, but Plant Medicine ceremonies are traditionally done in small groups—this is because we learn from each other as much as we learn from the plants. It’s also incredibly inspiring to dive into the corners of our psyches, and the edges of the multiverse, with other brave warriors. Interpersonal dynamics, as difficult as they sometimes are, allow for even more profound insights and self-discovery. Ayahuasca in particular works best in community, not one on one, which is why this is how she’s been worked with for centuries.

Set and setting are also absolutely crucial. Traditional ceremonies take place in structures specifically built for this sacred work; places like Malokas and Teepees are constructed in such a way as to support the energetic and spiritual energies that manifest in altered spaces. The energy of a space matters greatly. It’s much more potent to enter into a journey within a ceremonial room that has witnessed thousands of similar expeditions. This amplifies both the potency and the sacredness.

This is not the case for a sterile clinical setting that has absolutely no ritual, no sacred objects, no altar, no sense of connection to spirit. In fact, settings like this actually mute and repress the energies involved in connecting to spirit. Would you rather attempt to have a life-changing spiritual awakening in a holy temple or a doctor’s office?

The biggest factor in the lack of safety in clinical settings is by far the facilitator themselves. It is widely agreed that the most important element to any shamanic journey lies in the person creating the experience; the shaman, facilitator, practitioner, or administrator. There are two key elements that determine the safety and capabilities of anyone administering a Plant Medicine or psychedelic:

1)    Relationship with the Medicine: Entheogens are conscious, sentient, abundantly wise beings, and they invite us to work with them; we do not get to force a partnership because we feel entitled or we paid an institution ten thousand dollars for a license. They must choose us, and we create safety for those who sit with us through hundreds and hundreds of journeys with these medicines ourselves. The Western medical model aligns with being a salesman, not a shaman. Most clinical practitioners have never even worked with the medicine they administer a single time, let alone the hundreds of times necessary to truly begin to understand these energies.

2)    Training / Experience: Ask anyone who has been to medical school, and they will confirm there is zero training around holding a sacred container and creating a space of spiritual safety. Yet this is absolutely essential when we are altering our consciousness. There are thousands and thousands of people currently dealing with the traumatic aftermath of sitting in shamanic circles led by people without training; this is going to positively explode in frequency as the popularity of clinical sessions increase. Just because the scientific world doesn’t believe in spiritual complexities and the related traumas doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

Western Medicine Only Views Physical Safety as Valid. Spiritual Safety is Just as Essential.

The scientific lens by which the entire Western medical profession views the concept of safety is woefully limited. Safety means more than ensuring someone won’t get injured or die in our care. Safety means knowing how to deal with trauma as it’s released without shaming or judging someone. Safety means knowing how to create a bubble of protection so other peoples’ energies and emotions don’t permeate a client’s journey. Safety means holding space for and understanding suffering in a way that allows it to dissolve and release, not perpetuate. And most importantly, safety means trusting death. Our medical system does just the opposite.

 Think of your general practitioner or even your therapist/psychologist. Do they exude this kind of safety? If you were catapulted into another dimension and shared the vulnerable, shadowy parts of yourself, would you feel they have the capacity to receive this with compassion? Could they guide you through the darkness? Do they trust what lies beyond our current reality / consciousness?

If the answer is yes, you’ve found a rare clinician who also understands how to be heart connected and tapped into multidimensional awareness. This is safety in a shamanic sense. No one is perfect with this, as we all have triggers, but most people in the medical profession become closed off and jaded out of necessity for their own well-being. And almost no one in that world has actual shamanic training.

This is not a good recipe for a psychedelic experience. Altering consciousness is vastly different than a portal of pain, illness, or even therapy. It’s a trip into the unknown, a romp through the spiritual vortexes, and an experienced guide can make or break how we remember and relate to the journey.

During any psychedelic experience, we become wildly sensitive. We can deeply sense when we are being judged, when our guide is frightened or confused, and when the space feels out of control. The person holding space literally determines if we are able to navigate the intensities with confidence and nurturing, or with terror and confusion.

We trust our clinicians to diagnose us. Psychedelic therapy is a totally different domain.

The Additional Trend with Clinical Psychedelic Therapy That is Very, Very Disturbing

The other most important factor in any altered experience is the of course the medicine itself. As we are all aware, the Western medical establishment loves what is created in a lab; they do not align with nature. Nature cannot be patented, controlled, or predicted, so Plant Medicines themselves have been traditionally vilified. Now that psychedelic healing is the next big thing, scientists are rapidly attempting to reproduce their magic via chemical compounds that follow the scientific model and, most importantly, can be sold at much higher prices.

Yet nature can never, ever be replicated in a lab. One of the core wounds in our culture is our disconnection to nature, and this is being perpetuated via psychedelic therapy. Almost all clinical sessions take place with synthetics, not natural medicines. This is not only harmful for us humans in that it continues the wounding of separation, it’s also horrifically disrespectful to the plants themselves. The hubris we have as a culture in assuming what we create in a lab is equal to or better than what nature herself has created for millennia…it’s so woefully misguided. And in the end, humanity continues to suffer, even under the guise of healing.

It’s not that synthetics don’t have their role in our healing and evolution, they do. But soon enough, we won’t have a choice. And that’s not ok. This might be our last chance to heal this wound before the planet grows tired of us.

Final Words about Clinical Psychedelic Therapy

It is a truly magnificent thing that the clinical world is embracing psychedelics as a mode of healing, for everyone deserves legal, safe access to whatever medicine they are called to. But because the shamanic perspective is not welcomed, and legalities only embrace the sterile offices of therapists and doctors, this is not in any way a fair and balanced approach. Couple that with the obsession with synthetics and a lack of reverence and connection to the medicines with those who administer them, and we clearly have a long way to go before alignment with the planet and the true definition of healing is achieved.

If you are someone called to work with the Sacred Plants, please only vote for and advocate for laws that make these beings accessible in both clinical AND shamanic settings. Please don’t give the full power of control and regulation of nature to a system that only wishes to profit and exploit her, and us.  

Now go forth and heal – this is everyone’s birthright :)

About the Author

Tina “Kat” Courtney, The Afterlife Coach, has worked with Ayahuasca since the early 2000s, with a decade as a shamanic apprentice. She works as an Ayahuasca and Psychedelics Coach, guiding others through the integration and preparation process with all sacred plants and master plant dietas. Kat is the author of Plant Medicine Mystery School Vol 1: The Superhero Healing Powers of Psychotropic Plants, as well as a certified Death Doula. She’s a transformational junkie with a major love of polarities, and she adores helping others love their darkness too.